A Healing Journey
by AangxiousKittyCornNerd
Summary: Season 9 really took it's toll on the ninja, leaving all of them feeling - and acting - off. Wu puts them all into therapy in order to help them work through their problems, but how much can simple psychologists do to help our favorite team of ninjas? NOTE: THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION, SO IT PROBABLY BE HORRIBLE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
1. Prologue: Something's Wrong

It had been a long, slow day with nothing going on, yet the ninja returned exhausted to the monastery. Every one of them went straight to their rooms, which had become the usual for them. Wu worried for them; ever since his brother's evil side was resurrected by the girl called Harumi, his pupils had acted rather unlike themselves. Zane had become distracted: burning one thing whilst under cooking another when preparing even the simplest of meals. Kai had taken to spending his time at fight clubs instead of with the team, as he had when Zane died. His nephew, Lloyd, almost never left his room and insisted that he was fine, even when the question had not been asked. Nya seemed to have lost her creative touch, keeping things organized and clean while refusing to listen to anyone - including him. Cole had stopped cooking altogether, and preferred to spend his time moping upon his bed. Last but not least there was Jay, who had become so quiet it seemed almost as if death had fallen upon him. Unsure of what to do about this, Wu consulted Misako and Cyrus Borg for advice on how to help them.

"Misako, what do you think I'm doing wrong?"

"I'm not sure…"

Cyrus's eyes widened in surprise at the results that had appeared on his BorgPad. "That's odd…"

"What is it?" Misako bit her lip with worry.

"I typed in the behaviors of each of the Ninja - as you requested - and the results were a variety of… mental illnesses."

"Mental illness?"

"Yes. They're like regular illnesses, but instead of being treated with medicines and other remedies They are talked through with therapists."

Silence fell upon the three as they contemplated this.

"Are the sessions with the therapists private?"

"Yes,"

"Good, could you find us some, available at different times, preferably?"

"Of course! I was actually beginning to consider putting PIXAL in as well, she's been having some problems which I just can't seem to puzzle through."

"Thank you."

"Individual or group therapy?"

"Would both be possible?"

"Well, yes. I'll set them up right away!"


	2. Introductions, part 1

A/N: Sorry about the length, most likely all of the chapters are going to be pretty long like this. Just a bit of a warning in case they fail to be of good quality in people's eyes. Also, many chapters (like this one) will be split in half because they are around 6,000 words and a novel chapter is considered really long at 5,000 so I split them in half for easier reading. I will try to post both of the two at the same time whenever I do so, just so that you peeps don't have to wait for the section with your favorite character to be posted. I hope you enjoy!

Review Replies:

FabulousAnimeGirl: Thanks! I had just been doing some research on mental disorders when I came across PTSD and thought 'Huh, caused by traumatic events? Man, the Ninja sure have been through quite a few of those!'

MightyShipper: Here is what happens 'next', I hope you like it as much as you liked the prologue!

LunaPikazard12: I'm excited too, but also kind of nervous. Especially since this almost instantly collected followers and reviews, the pressure has begun!

Nuppa Nuppa: *evil cackling heard from the background* me too. I better go get those guys under control before they reveal their existence early.

* * *

A hand landed on Jay's shoulder, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

"G'morning, Master." Wu could barely hear the words that slipped out of the blue ninja's mouth, although he was happy that he had at least said something today.

"Good morning, Jay. Would you come with me? There's someone I'd like you to meet.

"Sure."

Jay napped as they drove through the city whose tech he had once been fascinated by, as he saw sleep as his escape from the worrisome reality. When he awoke, the two of them walked into one of the few austere buildings in all of Ninjago City.

"Jay, this is Doctor Bradley. He's going to be your councilor for a while."

_Councilor?_ Jay wondered. _Am I going to a camp? A prison camp?! But I've never done anything wrong! I wouldn't last a day with those thugs, and I wouldn't be able to see Nya either and-_

"Jay?" Wu and the stranger, Dr. Bradley, were staring at him with worried expressions, the second with a hand ready to catch him if he fell. Only then did Jay realize he had been hyperventilating again over something small and stupid. He knew that Wu would never send him to a camp without his permission, much less a prison camp. So why had he panicked? What did he have to fear?

"Councilor?"

"Yes, he's a Therapist."

"Hullo, Jay. Nice ta meet ya! I'm Charles, but you can just call me Charles!" Dr. Bradley's ridiculous accent helped ground Jay from his feelings. Jay stared at him: moppy dark brown hair that seemed to be as if someone took Kai and Cole's hairs and just mixed them together, in addition to skin a caramel he had never seen before. The sea-foam green of his eyes had a grayish tint that seemed to sparkle in the light. "Well, me' lad?" Charles inquired, switching to a wild Scottish.

Jay could not help smiling, feeling laughter budding inside him.

Encouraged now, Charles continued. Switching from one absurd imitation to the next until he finally got Jay to burst into laughter.

Once their sides finally stopped hurting and they could breathe again they continued through a short hallway. They stopped in front of a door that had a small golden sign labeled 'Therapy in progress, DO NOT DISTURB! please :) '. Charles held the door open for them. "After you." His bow was exaggerated, even more so than usual since he knew his client appreciated humor.

Jay shook his head rapidly. "No, you go first." he insisted, recalling Chen's love for trapdoors and Nadakhan's many goons that seemed to be everywhere at once. Great, he was being paranoid again.

"Alrighty then." Charles shrugged as he led the way inside. "Have a seat." he gestured toward three padded chairs and a single love-seat. Jay patted the cushions thoroughly before letting Wu or himself sit down. When he did, he was slightly spooked (but also thrilled) at the springiness of the couch.

Wu and Charles spoke for about ten minutes while Jay watched every single car go by outside the window.

"Jay?"

"What?"

"I was just asking if you'd be okay talking with me one on one."

Jay turned to Wu. "He's not a Djinn, or insane, right?" he breathed.

"No! A Djinn? -"

"Okay then!" With that remark from Jay; Wu, still confused about the Djinn thing, left the room.

"So, Jay, tell me about your life up to this point."

"You sure you want that story?" When he nodded, Jay continued. "Well, I guess it all started in Ed and Edna's Junkyard…"

(some time passes by)

Jay was skipping as he left the small, baby blue office. Whilst Charles came out stone faced, his tan skin having turned the creamy white of Zane's hair.

"How was it?"

"It was great! Thanks, Master Wu! Oh, and you Charles." Jay almost sounded like he was back to his normal self already.

Wu turned to Charles. "What do you think?" He asked softly as Jay walked past them into the lobby.

"I've never heard another story like his. I have heard a billion horror tales about the Great Devourer, Overlord, Anacondrai, Ghosts, Serpentine, and Garmadon, but his really takes the cake!"

"Will you be able to help him?"

"I hope so, at a glance it seems like what he mostly needs is someone to talk it all out with."

"Are we gonna go?" Jay called from the other end of the hallway.

*Healing*

"Lloyd?" Wu called gently, opening the door slowly. He peeked in to see his nephew curled upon his bed, quivering slightly, facing the wall. "Lloyd." As the boy turned to face him, Wu got a good look at his face and was shocked to see that his nephew's face was streaked with tears.

Lloyd wiped his face with the sleeve of his suit. "Hi, Master." He stood and gave Wu a shaky bow of respect.

"Are you okay?!" Rushing over to his side, Wu reached to put his arm around his nephew.

"I'm fine."

"Well," Unsure now, thanks to the sharp edge of his nephew's voice, Wu continued. "Would you come with me to Ninjago City? There's someone that I'd like for you to meet."

"This isn't another 'there's something I haven't told you' situation, is it?"

"No."

"Okay."

The two of them drove through Ninjago City toward their destination, Lloyd somberly staring out the window the entire time. Their silence had a strange heaviness Wu had never felt before, as if the realm itself was trying to drag them down into the abyss that lied in between realms. Both of them were glad to get out of the car when they arrived at the small building, which looked shockingly like an apartment complex. Wu wrapped his arm around his nephew and gently led him inside.

Biting his lip nearly hard enough to draw blood, Lloyd tried to control the thoughts running rampant throughout his mind. His eyes stung and it was all he could do to stop them from filling with tears he didn't want his mentor to see.

"Lloyd, this is Doctor Richards."

"Please, call me Lydia." She said, giving a slight bow of respect toward the green ninja. "Come, have a seat please." Motioning toward a door at the end of a claustrophobic hallway, she turned and led them into the cozy little room. Immediately, Lloyd plopped down on the couch, attempting to hide by burying himself in the pillows. Broken memories from locations they had passed swarmed through his head. Wu's stomach twisted with worry as he wondered just what kind of miracle-worker Lydia would have to be to break through that shell and help the poor boy. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm not entirely sure beyond… this." Wu gestured to the figure on the couch, who seemed smaller beneath the two pillows.

"How old is he?"

Wu hesitated, wondering the same thing himself. "We don't know."

"What?"

"It's a long story."

"Okay," she was clearly not satisfied with that answer. "Would you be comfortable talking to me alone?"

It took Lloyd a minute to realize she had asked him this last question. He opened his mouth to answer, then realized just whose voice her sugar-coated soft voice reminded him of.

Harumi.

Lydia looked nothing like Harumi; her long brown hair was tied back in a firm ponytail, she was thin but not excessively so, also rather tan, with small blue eyes, and an out of place large nose. Still, Lloyd found himself curling into a tighter ball as he tried his hardest to melt into the cushions. Fractions of flashbacks featuring his father and the girl he had once loved pieced together in erratic ways, then scattered asunder again. His face grew hot, the pillow wet, and he gasped in air; finding it difficult to breathe.

After confirmation from Lydia that this would be the right move, Wu moved onto the couch. He gently pulled his nephew onto his lap and held him there as he sobbed. The way he was being held causing Lloyd to revert back to his childish ways and cling to Master Wu's robes, abandoning his pillow.

Wu and Lydia spoke softly, mostly things Wu could do to help Lloyd through this, but Lloyd was no longer listening. He dropped further and further into the pit of memories he had tried so hard to bury, his heart seemed to weigh him down as if it were a ball of vengestone inside him. Mercily, sleep overcame him, temporarily relieving him from his thoughts until the nightmares would arrive.

When it was time to leave, Wu gently carried his nephew out of the room, cradled in his arms. He gently sat Lloyd in the backseat and buckled him in, then got in himself and drove back to the Monastery.

*Healing*

"Where are we going?" PIXAL bounced in her seat, unable to stop smiling. This confused - and frustrated - Cyrus, her emotions fluctuated uncontrollably and there was nothing he could do about it. He had scanned her systems a million times, yet the only solution he ever saw was something he could not do.

"You know the… problems, you've been having?"

"Affirmative, but I do not see why they require travel." She cocked her head - more than necessary - as she stared at her creator.

"Well, I believe I may have found someone who can help you with it."

She laughed. "You are the greatest inventor alive in all of Ninjago, how could anyone do a better job fixing me up than you?"

"They're not in the robotics field, they're a psychologist."

The dim light that emitted from her green eyes waxed softer as she contemplated this. "I am a robot, why would I need a psychiatrist?"

"Well, you think and feel just like anyone else…"

"And?"

Cyrus sighed. "And I can't do anything about them. Well I could but, PIXAL, it would-" He cut himself off, refusing to say it. She scrutinized his face until it finally dawned on her.

"It would remove my emotions completely." She giggled, although there was nothing funny about their conversation. "Leaving me in a very similar state to how I was before I met Zane."

He nodded, and a heavy silence - broken only by PIXAL's bouncing - settled between them. Both tried to grasp something to say to fill the growing void, yet every attempt failed miserably. Eventually the elder settled for noting their arrival at the small office building.

The waiting room was rather small and plain, yet cozy. With light blue wallpaper that made the small room seem larger than it actually was, a small table covered in Ninjago Geographic magazines, a few padded chairs, and even a leather couch. A young man stood at the entrance to the far hallway.

"PIXAL, this is Doctor Kael."

"Kale? As in leaf cabbage?"

"No, it's - well,"

"That's all right. You have no idea how many times I've been mistaken for that plant." He gave a wink to PIXAL to show her there were no hard feelings. "If you'd prefer, you can call me by my first name, Zeno."

"Alright."

"My office is right this way." He turned and led them to one of the three offices in the hallway - his being the middle one. PIXAL found herself skipping as she went in, despite all her efforts to suppress the inexplicable euphoria. She took a glance at Cyrus's concerned face, wishing she had more control over her own emotions.

Once everyone was seated, Zeno jumped right in. "What appears to be the problem?"

"Well… um… it's-"

"My emotions have recently been fluctuating randomly between extreme highs and lows without any notable cause."

"I see," He jotted down a few things on his notepad. "How long has this been happening for?"

"Two weeks."

"15 days, 13 hours, and 42 minutes to be exact."

"And how long do the episodes of each last?"

"The emotional highs last an approximate average of 23 hours and the lows last approximately 4 days each."

"Hmm, it sounds like you may be Bipolar. It just started up…?"

"Yes."

"That's a bit… unusual. Is there something that could have caused it? Abuse, significant stress?"

"Well, yes. She has had quite a bit of stress… I personally believe that it may have been caused by an underlying factor that I have failed to track down."

"You think that it might be a side effect of another mental illness?"

"Or something like that, yes."

"That was redundant." PIXAL commented, not quite understanding where the hints of anger in her voice had come from.

Both of the others looked at her in surprise, then - seeing her surprise and regret - decided to pretend she had not said anything. She felt grateful for the intentional ignorance of the outburst.

"If I were to take a guess, it would most likely be Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Half the city has it these days."

"PTSD? Why would half the people in Ninjago City have that disorder?"

"Anything from the Great Devourer down to the destruction caused by Garmadon just recently. Take your pick, and I can almost guarantee someone was traumatized by it." He glanced at the clock, wincing at the time displayed. "It was wonderful to meet you, PIXAL, I hope I will get to talk to you some more at a future time." He glanced at Cyrus as he said this, asking him with his eyes whether or not he planned on bringing her back. Cyrus gave a small nod, then walked out with PIXAL.


	3. Introductions, part 2

Memories and regrets surged up, searing a path to the front of her mind. No matter how hard she pushed them down they always returned. Again and again they burned their way through her walls as she did everything to block them out. When night fell she would scream silently at herself for not discovering her water powers earlier and utilizing them, for not keeping a closer eye on the fangblades before the Devourer was released. The only thing that ever succeeded to block them out was keeping busy, and since they were rather disorganized the best way to do that would be to organize everything. For weeks, that's what she did; as a necessity for her sanity.

When Wu finally located her, she was in the library organizing the shelves by the last three letters in the name of the book.

"Nya, there is someone that I would like you to meet."

"No thanks." Her tone was flat, cold, and dismissive. Something Wu would have expected from Kai, but not Nya.

"What?"

"I said no. I'm busy enough as it is."

Wu lifted an eyebrow. "Reorganizing books?"

"I'm BUSY!" She threw the books she was currently holding at him, which he efficiently dodged.

"Please?"

"Fine." She grumbled, setting down the stack she had just picked up. "Make it quick."

"I am so sorry we're late. Nya, this is Doctor Young." Nya stared at the middle-aged blonde, wondering why Wu took her to meet _this_ lady.

"Oh, it's all alright. It is just wonderful to meet you Nya, you may call me Jen."

Nya glared in response; mostly angry with Wu for dragging her there, but there was a little bit toward 'Jen' for that condescending choice of words.

In response, Jen swiftly moved the conversation onward, hoping that she could get Nya comfortable enough to talk a little. "Please, come in! Have a seat." Wu sat down on one end of the small couch (not quite a loveseat per se but not a full sized couch), leaving plenty of room for his student; although instead Nya chose to sit in one of the smaller chairs - specifically the one furthest from Wu. Jenifer took her seat as well.

"Would you prefer he leave the room?" She gestured toward the old man.

"Sure." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, though the heightened feeling quickly dissipated.

Wu, feeling slightly bewildered and offended, rose and walked from the room.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me about? Anything weighing down on you that you need to get off of your chest?"

The query was met with silence.

"Legally, I am required to keep everything you say in this room completely confidential, unless life and death may hang in the balance. If that helps at all."

"I don't need to talk." Nya's voice was more aggressive than she had meant to be, but it seemed to fit the situation so she stuck with it.

"Alright." She stood and crept the short distance toward the opposite corner; picking up a small, bright red colored box from the stack. She removed the deck of Uno cards, settling back into her chair. "Would you at least play a round with me?" The cards were shuffled by the time she finished her inquiry, and she began to deal them into two piles of 15.

Warily, the young Water Ninja reached for one of the piles, snatching it from the chair the older woman had placed them on. Organizing them by color, number, and the state of their edges was exhausting, yet familiar. She hated the feeling that she needed to do this.

Once her cards were properly sorted, Jen gestured for her to make the first move. Nya glanced at the starting card - a blue 6, how strange - and searched her deck for the closest number she had of the same color, playing a blue three once she discovered she had no blue 5 or 7.

As the game progressed Nya found herself caring a little less about the order of her cards and simply enjoying (and winning) the game. Fifteen minutes later Jenifer finally spoke up.

"Do you feel like that often?"

"Like what?"

"The organizing. You seem like a smart and creative young woman, yet you put a lot of your effort into organizing whatever is around you. Have you always been like that?"

"Well, no. It started more recently." Part of her wanted to shrink back into her repetitive routines, but she fought against that feeling.

"I understand a lot has happened recently…"

"Yeah, why?"

"It sounds to me that you are redirecting your energy from things that you would rather not think about. Most likely these thoughts are related to past events."

Nya shifted in her seat. "Maybe,"

"Could you try and think about that for me?"

"… Sure."

"Good. I look forward to the next time I see you."

*Healing*

"Cole?" Wu rapped gently on the door to the bedroom of the earth ninja. "May I come in?"

"No."

"Will you come out, then?"

"No."

Wu sighed. "Cole, you are not alone in the way you are feeling."

"Hmph."

"A-and, I know of someone who can help."

"What?" Wu smiled; _that_ sounded a little more like the Cole he had trained. "Would you like to meet them?"

"… maybe."

"If so, you have to come out."

Silence ensued for a minute. "Okay." The door opened slowly and Cole emerged - wearing a black hoodie and a pair of jeans Wu had never seen before.

"This means you are interested in meeting him?"

"Depends, who is he?"

"Doctor Kirby Morro."

"_Morro_?! No way! Never in a million years!" Cole slipped back into his room, slamming the door shut.

A sigh escaped Wu's lips as - for an instant, and not the first time - he wondered if this was what parenting was like. If it was, no wonder Garmadon and Misako had quit and gone to pursue their interests instead. "Please?"

Cole harrumphed. "… Fine."

The two walked into a rather large office building; the waiting room inside spacious, with the edges lined with chairs. A man who had been standing by a corner began walking toward them .

"You must be Cole. I'm Kirby."

"Hi… Kirby." Cole hesitantly shook the extended hand.

"My office is right this way." He turned, leading them down the hallway while Cole repeatedly glanced back at Wu - mostly to make sure that the old man had not left him.

The two of them sat down on the couch while Kirby took a large office chair that Cole couldn't help but notice was the tallest seat in the entire room.

"Tell me about yourself, Cole."

Cole looked to Master Wu for confirmation that this was okay, then began. "Well… I'm a Ninja. And I had a really hard time telling my father that fact because he wanted me to be a singer and dancer, but eventually things turned out okay between us.

"Um, after that," He glanced at Wu again, who simply nodded. "After that there was the Great Devourer, which we had to give the Golden Weapons to Garmadon in order to defeat. Then there was the Overlord - both times he showed up. The first time he turned almost everyone evil, including me." He glanced down for a moment. "And after all that there was Chen and his stupid tournament. After tha… " The memory of his elemental powers being drained into that crystal surged up. "After… " It felt so real; Cole could almost feel the pain again. His strength being slowly stolen from his body bit by bit, the pangs of hunger that had seized him many times while working in that noodle factory. The numb emptiness that came with being a ghost, along with the sickeningly cold feeling of something passing through you. Being forced to sit back and watch himself fight his friends way back when Skales had hypnotized him…

"Cole, look at me." Kirby's tone was gentle and caring, yet still his words were a firm command which the 19 year old obeyed. His breathing patterns were still askew and his heart racing.

"How do you feel when you think about the past?"

"What?"

"How do you feel?"

"Well, awful. I feel like I'm reliving the event all over again." He suddenly remembered that Wu was still there. "Please don't tell the others."

Wu smiled. "I won't - unless you tell me to."

"Good." With a slight sigh of relief, he turned back to the blonde. "Why do you ask?"

"Because how one feels is a very important thing to keep in mind - whether we let others know it or not." Kirby glanced at Wu, a smile creeping at the edges of his lips.

"That sounds like something Wu would say." Cole gestured to the elderly man beside him, who seemed uncertain about whether he should take those words as a compliment or not.

Kirby laughed. "I'm sure it does. Could you try to keep it in mind until I see you again?"

"What do you mean 'again'" Cole glanced at Master Wu.

"Your mentor there signed you up for sessions twice a week."

"Is that so?" The glance turned to a full on glare.

Uncomfortable, Wu cleared his throat - much louder than would have been necessary. "We should get going. Thank you, Dr. Morro."

Cole shuddered at the name.

"Call me Kirby."

Wu only smiled.

*Healing*

"Zane?" Wu strode into the kitchen, searching for his white-clad student. "Are you in here?"

"Yes, sir." Zane all but appeared straight out of thin air as he sprang to attention, facing Wu.

"Sir?" Since when did any of his students call him _that_?

"Oh, sorry. Master Wu. Old habit."

'Old habit', Wu wondered when that developed. "Well, Zane, I was -"

"Sensei, behind you!" Zane's voice was nearly a shout, his eyes were widened with terror.

Wu whirled around, ready to face whatever was there.

The hallway was empty.

"Apologies, Master." Zane bowed low, looking ready to bang his head against a wall saying 'bad Zane' over and over. He turned back to his cooking.

"Zane?"

"Sorry." Zane looked over his shoulder.

"It's alright." Wu did his best to hide how troubled he was by what just happened. "Would you come with me? There's someone that I would like you to meet." After Zane began reaching into the oven to check something he added. "Once you're done."

The building was on the southernmost tip of Ninjago City; one of the few buildings still standing all the way back from before the Great Devourer.

"You must be Zane, it's nice to meet you. I'm Owen Walt."

"It is nice to meet you as well." Zane held out his hand, shooting Wu a questioning look.

"Follow me, please." Owen waved as he turned, smiling as he led the way.

Zane walked into the miniscule office, sitting down on the edge of the couch so as to leave room for Wu.

"So, Zane, your sensei here tells me that you've been acting strange lately, tell me about it."

"I-" Glancing at Wu beside him, Zane stopped. "I-I don't know."

Owen gave a knowing smile. "Let me guess, you'd rather not talk about it in front of your sensei here." He knew that he was right.

"Nn-" Zane stopped, realizing (While very ashamed of the fact) that this stranger was correct. "Yes."

Wu nodded, getting up and leaving with nothing more than "I'll be right outside."

Once he was gone Owen continued. "Now, what has been going on?"

Zane bit his lip, still hesitant to try and put it into words.

"There is no need to worry, everything you say here is entirely confidential."

"You're a psychiatrist." He realized, feeling stupid that he had not noticed so earlier.

"Yes, I am. Wu brought you here because he believed that I may be able to help you."

Nodding, Zane attempted to explain. "It's… I have been hallucinating. All past events, only lasting a second or two and always triggered by something. Sometimes even just someone walking into the room can trigger one."

Owen stared for a moment, he had never heard of something like this before. "So you have been quite literally reliving the past?"

Zane nodded, staring at the ground.

"That problem is nothing to be ashamed of, Zane. Now, if it's alright I'm going to ask a few more questions."

"So, how was it?"

"It was… a learning experience." Zane avoided looking directly at Wu, so he turned his inquiry over toward Owen.

"He has some problems, but I think that I might be able to figure out how to treat him. For now, I've given him some tips that may help contain the problem for now." He smiled slightly. "Be patient with him."

"I will, thank you Dr. Walt."

*Healing*

"Where are you going, Kai?"

"Nowhere, Master. Leave me alone."

"Hmm, I need to go to Ninjago city for a bit of business. Would you mind taking me there?"

"Fine, as long as it isn't too big of a detour."

"Stop!"

Kai looked toward the tiny, plain building. The thing was smaller than the Monastery, and it was an _office building._ "Here?"

"Yes, now come!"

"There? No way. I was just dropping you off."

"Now!"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh. Make it quick." Kai reluctantly followed his sensei inside.

Inside, once they had climbed a narrow stairway, the two scrutinized the waiting room. There were a few small chairs and a coffee table covered in various magazines - most of which featured the Ninja on the cover. A hallway - about four feet wide - stretched a short way back before ending with only two doors inside. A young child along with a man who seemed to be her father walked out of the nearer one; the little girl excitedly pointing out that Kai was one of the Ninja. Shortly after that pair had left a young woman came out of the further room with one of the widest smiles Kai had ever seen.

"It is an honor to meet you, Kai. My name is Sarei Humes."

"Yeah, yeah. Master Wu, how long is this going to take?!"

"Patience."

"Well… " Sarei cut in. "Would you two like to come to the back with me?"

"No."

"We would love to."

Glancing between the two, she decided to side with the older one. It was the smarter thing to do in her situation. "Very well, follow me." She turned, motioning for them to follow her down the halway. Wu all but dragged the Fire Ninja along.

Once everyone was seated - the elderly blond having to pin down his student - Sarei decided to go with what she assumed would be the safest course of action within this situation. She turned toward Kai. "So, tell me about yourself. What has been going on in your life recently?"

"Wait a second," Kai looked as if he had been cheated out of something. "This isn't business! This is a councilor, isn't it?! You lied to me!"

"I never said that the 'business' had nothing to do with you. Now, answer her question." Wu gave him a piercing glare, worrying Sarei a little about the relationship between them.

"Make me!"

She had heard enough. "If he doesn't want to talk, let's not force him to." She shot Wu a meaningful look.

"Hmph." Kai, although this had been more or less what he had wanted, was rather upset with this new development.

"Sir, your message regarding your student here," She gestured toward Kai, taking every opportunity she could to acknowledge his presence in the room. "You listed out some symptoms, and it sounds like he may have a disorder known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"Post-Tram what?"

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. More commonly referred to as PTSD. It is a mental disorder caused by extreme stress levels which originate from a traumatic event which occurred within the person's life. Many people in Ninjago City have developed it thanks to the Great Devourer and the Sons of Garmadon." She cringed at her own words near the end.

"Oh." He went back to 'ignoring' her and Wu.

"As you were saying?"

"Oh, yes. I would recommend what is normally done for trauma patients: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which you can be assisted with by any therapist who has a Bachelor's or higher in Trauma."

"Trauma?"

"Yes, classes for it opened up after a large portion of the population started showing symptoms of PTSD about two months after the Great Devourer."

"Ah. Well, we shall see you again sometime." Grabbing Kai's wrist in a gentle yet firm grip, Wu bowed politely and dragged his student out the door.

"Hey! What do you mean again?!" Kai half-shouted.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait!


	4. Kicking Off, part 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long, I really don't have any real excuse besides writers block and laziness. (And stupid google docs not letting me do any work so I had to type it up in various different places when I gave up on docs, but that was just the past few days.) Hopefully my new system for writing (which should have me posting some of this weekly or at least every fortnight) will work! Thank you all so much for your support!**

* * *

"Come, Jay."

"Where?" Jay wondered what Wu would possibly need him for. An emergency? A funeral?

"You remember Charles, right?"

"Charles is dead?!"

"What? No, I'm taking you to see him again."

"Oh, okay." That sounded okay, Charles had been kinda fun.

The two arrived shortly at the office complex at which Jay's therapist worked. This time Jay examined the exterior, scrutinizing each and every window as he searched for Charles' potted cactus. He was rather disappointed when they made it inside before he found it.

"Hullo, Jay! Good ta sea ya agaen!" Charles gave Jay a wide smile, one which was only half returned. "How arr you?"

"I'm fine."

"Just 'fine'? Not e'en goud?" Jay glanced at the ground in response, and Charles' tone returned to a more natural cadence. "Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

Jay gave a slight nod - despite not really knowing how to put it all into words - and Charles led him into his office, while Wu hung back in the waiting room.

"So, Jay. Anything happen recently?"

"No."

"Well, how have you been feeling recently?"

Jay counted the 26 pinkish-red carpet bristles that lay underneath his feet. "Fine."

"You said that already." He said, ignoring the fact that 'fine' was not a feeling.

"I know."

Grasping for something, Charles went to his last resort for closed-off patients. "Tell you what, how about we play a game?" He stood and walked toward his shelf full of various different things - including board games like Mini-Droid Chess - and pulled out Connect 4 and Jenga. "You wanna stack coins or blocks?"

He stared at his hands. "Coins."

Opening the box, Charles flicked two of the coins to the side - one orange and one red. The two landed one atop the other, outside of the reach of either person. "Whoops! Should I go get those, or let them sit there and see if they turn orange?"

Jay laughed slightly, mostly just to humor Charles, and began to pick out the red coins. His mind wandered back to when Nya was a Samurai: how amazing she had been, especially when fighting off snakes or dealing with Pythor's insane antics. That time she hit Pythor dead on with that dart in the Toxic Bogs. Her admitting that she was the samurai while tied to a broken roller coaster. Her dangling from a pole within the mouth of the Great Devourer with her thrusters not working...

"Why don't you take the first move, Jay?" Charles gave him an encouragingly warm smile.

"Okay."

The game progressed back and forth as Charles gently probed Jay back out of the shell he had retreated into over the past few days. Between the red and yellow circles clinking into place and Jay winning two of the three rounds - which he remarked was similar to going against Cole, as in any game against him you had about a fifty-fifty chance.

"Alright, Jay. It's about time for you to go home, but first I have a small assignment for you."

An assignment? Jay recalled all those disappointed looks his father had given him every single time he failed any of his 'outside time' work or one of the other assignments he had been given over the years. "Uhm, assignment?"

"Don't worry, it's incredibly simple. It-"

"If I fail?"

Charles was shocked for a moment. "Well, if you can't complete it before I see you again I will simply ask you to try again until you succeed."

"Really? I get off the hook that easily?" The assignment _had_ to be something incredibly difficult then: Like wrestling a bear, or extracting the venom from a tiger widow, or-

"I want you to have a meal with your friends and/or your family, and - more importantly - have a conversation with them. Do you think you can do that?"

"Uh, sure."

He grabbed a teddy bear, holding it in front of his face. "Grrrreat! See you in four days!" The teddy bear's paw waved under his surprisingly skilled hand.

*Healing*

Lydia flashed a jubilant smile. "Hey, Lloyd! How are you?"

burying his face further into Wu's robes, Lloyd muttered curses directed toward himself for his own existence. Wu glanced at the small boy, wondering why he always hid. "I don't know, he's been this way since we got here two minutes ago."

"Well, how about we head back?" She gestured toward her office, and Wu gently guided his nephew by the shoulders into the room. When Lloyd was set on the couch he whimpered at the loss of the robes to hide his face in, immediately turning to the pillow next to him without even opening his eyes. He felt the weight of everything that had ever been set on his shoulders, and just wanted to lie down and never wake up.

"Do you know if he's been..." She cut herself off, not wanting to give him any ideas in case he had failed to realize they were options (albeit really bad ones).

"What do you mean?"

She grabbed a blank piece of paper and wrote 'self harming/considering suicide' before handing it to Wu. He stared at it for a moment, then at her with wide eyes. "You don't know?" He nodded solemnly.

"You really think...?" He glanced at the Green Ninja curled up beside him, letting the question fall away in his concern.

"It's a possibility." Lloyd shifted uncomfortably: wanting to know what they were talking about - and what was on that paper - but he felt completely incapable of coming out from behind the pillow.

"I- I didn't realize -"

"It's alright, many parents even have a hard time recognizing the mental needs of their children. Plus those two things aren't exactly uncommon." Wu was horrified by her words, so she decided to switch to something a little softer for the old man. "Since we don't know for sure in this situation, it would probably be best to watch him - assuming the worst."

Wu looked at Lloyd, taking in the boy's shockingly thin figure. How much had he been eating? He had been avoiding a few meals recently, and more nibbling than anything else when he was present. There was so much he wanted to ask Lydia about to try and help the boy, but hesitated with talking about it in front of him. "Perhaps we should finish this conversation outside?"

She hesitated, not wanting to leave him alone, but nodded.

"We'll be right back, okay Lloyd?" He didn't move until long after the door had shut, muffling the two's voices. Slowly he peeked out from behind his pillow, looking at the room with tired, curious eyes. There was a small stack of board games: Mini-Droid Chess, Connect 4, Stratego, Sushi-Go, and Battleship. Next to that was a shelf full of various objects, including a messed-up Rubix Cube. Lydia's chair was a big office one coated in a shiny black leather; while there were two smaller cushy chairs off to either side - both of which had bright flower prints. His eyes finally drifted to the striped carpet that sat atop the normal grey.

Or, to be more specific, the face-down piece of paper.

What _had_ she been wondering about? What was so important that she had to write it down? Was it something she did not want him to know? Curiosity lifted his feelings a little, and he let go of the pillow with one arm. Immediately a wave of fear and insecurity washed over him and he snapped his arm back over the pillow. Never, ever, doing that again. Thoughts raced through his head, blaming him and cornering him within his own mind. Apparently his heart was in the race too, and it was hard to tell who was winning. He curled up as tight as he could, wishing that Wu would return sooner than later.

*Concurrently...*

"I didn't want to say so earlier, but it seems he's not eating. What do I do?"

She nodded. "He seemed a little thin. Have you noticed any other issues with him? Anything he would normally do but doesn't anymore?"

"Well, Their team used to play a lot of video games and joke around with each other. They also used to train - especially him and Nya, those two were the most devoted out of all of them. He used to attend lots of public events as well."

"And he's done none of those?"

"No." To be fair, none of the team had been doing any of those things. "He hides in his room all day."

"Does he listen to you?"

"Kind of, but it takes a bit of effort to get through to him."

"Maybe try to get him to go outside, get fresh air. Encourage him to do things he enjoys."

Wu nodded. "We should probably go back in there and check on him."

She glanced at the clock. "Our time's about up anyway."

The two walked back into the room to find Lloyd rocking back and forth on the edge of the couch, his breathing labored and rapid. They tried to calm him down for a full minute before Wu eventually just paid for the pillow and carried him from the room.

*Healing*

PIXAL giggled as they arrived at their destination, while Cyrus just stared at her; Just yesterday she had spent the entire day moping in the corner and now she... well, she seemed fine. More than fine, kinda extra happy. He still felt bamboozled by it when they walked into the building.

"PIXAL! How are you?"

"At the moment I am doing well, Zeno." Her eyes glistened as if they had flecks of gold, a bright smile was plastered across her face to match their glittering.

He laughed a little. "I can see that! Does this mean it might be a good time to ask a few clarifying questions about your past."

"Affirmative!"

"Well then, why don't we go into my office." Cyrus and PIXAL obediently followed him as he led the way through the thin hallway. Once PIXAL had been seated he sat and pulled a clipboard from atop a filing cabinet, glancing over the paper on it. "You were the sixteenth PIXAL Mr. Borg created?"

"Yes, Cyrus spent many versions trying to make the perfect assistant." Next to her Cyrus fiddled with his hands, embarrassed to have been singled out. He attempted to casually cross his legs, but eventually gave up and let his leg drop back down.

"How do you feel about that?" He paused, then decided to rephrase his question. "I mean, how does that make you feel?"

"Well, at the current moment or when I feel the world slowly closing in around me?" The smile she wore was slightly disturbing in it's contrast to the darker tone of her words.

"Both."

"Right now... I don't know. But when I'm feeling low it reminds me just how expendable and commonplace I am." Cyrus blanched at her words.

"I see. What about when you're around your boyfriend?Are you normally in your depressive moods or are you more commonly closer to where you are now? Or do you sit in between the two extremes?"

"I haven't really seen Zane recently." It had felt like he was avoiding everyone at the monastery, the few times she had been there after she had moved back in with her creator when she noticed something felt wrong with her.

There was a bit of silence for a moment. "It might be a good idea to reach out to him, perhaps he could help you, he might need your support as well."

PIXAL looked to Cyrus. "Does he have issues like mine?"

He floundered for a moment. "Well, yes - sort of. Sensei Wu has been keeping me in touch but- but I don't- I mean- well..."

She smiled. "It would be nice to see him again." Turning back to Zeno her expression flattened out to curiosity about his remaining questions.

"What about Samurai X? Do you still go on patrols as them?"

"Of course."

"Has there been any suspicious activity?"

"No," She caught onto what he was thinking. "But I cannot very well leave Ninjago unguarded."

"Well, is there anyone who could possibly take over for you?"

"That depends on the conditions of the Ninja."

"O-or, I could do it."

The two stared at the inventor, wide-eyed in disbelief at what he had just suggested.

"It should be fairly simple." If there was anything he could do to help their heroes and his daughter, he would do it. "I drive around Ninjago City in the mech looking for anything suspicious, and if I find anything I alert the Ninja." Something he fully did _not_ plan on doing. "Don't worry PIXAL, I'll stay safe."

"You will be _very_ careful, right? Not get into any fights?"

"Of course."

"Then it's settled. While you recuperate Cyrus will take over your patrols for you." Zeno's smile seemed to reach past the corners of his mouth so that even his hair was smiling with the pleasure of a decision having been reached.


	5. Kicking Off, part 2

Wu was not surprised to once again find Nya organizing their entire library, admittedly he was surprised when she gently acknowledged his presence with a head nod.

"Good afternoon, Nya."

"Hi, Wu." Her tone held a hint of disrespect: an improvement from last time.

"You ready to see Dr. Young again?"

"You mean Jeniffer." A book with a grey cover was apparently upside-down, as she pulled it off the shelf and flipped it over before putting it back.

"Yes."

She sighed, loudly. "Okay, but only because I know you can - and will - drag me there."

Wu stifled a smile while they walked to the small car he had bought for the sole purpose of blending in while taking the Ninja to their therapy sessions, although the smile quickly faded as he recalled just how far away everyone's old selves were.

...

Upon their entering the building Jeniffer came right out and - politely - asked Wu if he would remain in the waiting room. He nodded, kind of getting used to waiting.

When the two entered the room Jen started things off with a rather common query: "So, how are you?"

"I'm doing well." The lie slipped fluidly off her tongue before she even realized it was there. Yet, despite its simplicity, it still felt incredibly false.

Jen nodded, knowing from her reaction that she either was unsure of it herself or simply refused to say. "Well, shall we play a game? I believe I need to challenge you to a rematch in Uno at some point; I can't just leave the score at 3 to 1 when I'm on the losing end." She gave a playful wink.

"Sure, we can do Uno." Now that Jen was presumably satisfied, Nya turned back to what she had been doing. "Hold still," she hissed at the pillow, which simply refused to stay in it's correct place. She continued trying to place it perfectly while Jen sorted out the cards.

"Here are your cards."

She hesitated just a moment before grabbing the cards and beginning to sort through them. "Thanks."

When she finally finished, Jen flipped over the top card - a yellow five. "You first."

Nya searched her deck, finding not one but two yellow fives. She layed one of them down, a small burst of an emotion she barely recognized erupted within her chest.

As the game progressed with a draw two here and the occasional draw four there, both women grew more and more enveloped within their game. When there was only five minutes left they stopped, the score for the day being six to four.

"Nya? If it's alright, could I give you a little assignment?"

"It depends, what is it?"

"You have two choices, actually. You can either try and initiate a game night and play some games with your friends and family, or you can spend a half hour doing something that you truly enjoy." She gave a playful wink. "And I'm not just talking about organizing books."

"I only have to do one?"

"Unless you would rather do both."

"No, I'll just do one." She did not like the thought of facing the other ninja after two weeks of avoiding them; and besides, it _had_ been awhile since she had tinkered with anything. It might be nice to make something again.

*Healing*

"Hey Cole, you ready to see Dr. Morro today?"

A slight shiver went down Cole's spine. Did Wu really have to use _that_ name? Why not just call him Kirby? Cole took in a deep breath, recovering himself slightly. "Would you let me stay here?"

Wu shook his head.

"In that case I'll go."

"If you'd like, when we get back you could climb up the cliffside to the monastery." It had been quite some time before he had seen Cole climbing on… anything really.

"No. Let's just go."

Wu flashed Cole a concerned look as he walked by, thinking maybe it might be a good idea to do a bit of his own research on psychology. He would have to ask Misako if she had any books on it.

...

"Cole! Good to see you!"

"Hi, Kirby."

"Come on back! If it's alright, I have a lot to talk about with you."

"Okay."

Once the other two were seated Kirby began with a rather normal question; although it was one Cole had heard from few people besides his own teammates and his father. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"'Fine', 'don't want to talk about it right now', or 'I don't know how to put it into words' kind of fine?"

"Um…" It felt like all of the options while at the same time none of them whatsoever. "Just fine."

"Okay. Well, last time I saw you we talked a bit about your past. Remember?"

"Yeah." He had _not_ liked last time very much; he would rather forget his past if he could.

"Your friends were there during all of those times too, weren't they? It might be a good idea to talk with people who went through the same things."

Cole's trepidation peaked. "So they might be feeling like this too?" It was bad enough that he felt this jumbled up and tied in knots, were the other five experiencing this too?

"I don't know, but it might be a good idea to talk with them about it sometime and mention how you're feeling. External support from those we care about can be incredibly important in these kind of situations."

"So… I'm supposed to talk about my feelings. While surrounded by _all _my friends. So, in front of Kai."

"Just whoever you would feel comfortable talking to, you don't have to do everyone."

"Okay." Zane or Nya, if he could track either of them down; it was like the two had been avoiding everyone. Admittedly he was avoiding everyone too, but he still kept an eye out for them.

Kirby smiled. "Alright, the other thing I wanted to discuss was - and you don't have to do this if you don't want to - but I wanted to ask you to figure out which experience hurts the most to think about."

Which one hurt the most? What kind of question was that? Cole wanted to scream at everything. He wanted to simply fade into oblivion because of this torturous thing being requested of him. Asking him to figure out which one hurt more was like asking someone to figure out whether being on fire or being coated in ice and shoved out into the snow was more painful.

To his surprise he heard himself saying "I'll try." and immediately felt despair creeping in, because he lacked the courage to face the commitment he had just made.

*Healing*

Zane was feeling great as he gently toasted the bread to perfection. Sure, the ham had turned out a little crispy on the edges; and the turkey slices were debatably edible, but the bread was okay. Dr. Walt's advice was taking well, though both him and Wu had doubted parts of it. None of the other ninja had even seemed to notice that he was completely avoiding them for the time being.

Wu came outside the monastery - still slightly surprised that he was cooking outside, even though he had been doing it for three days. He knew that they seemed to be working for Zane, but the methods that were being used seemed… unconventional, and he was glad that they were only a temporary solution.

"Zane," He made sure his voice was soft and gentle as physically possible - a tone that he rarely used and thus would be difficult for it to trigger any flashbacks. (Another one of Walt's strange ideas.) "It's time to see Dr. Walt again. Are you ready?"

"Just give me a moment with these sandwiches, Cole would throw a fit if he had a late lunch."

Wu shook his head sadly, knowing that - currently - that was not true. With their own problems to deal with none of the ninja had seemed to even notice the others' conditions, although after his session Cole had started to pay a bit more attention. He honestly doubted that any of them would even notice if they skipped lunch.

Zane finished and plated them all, sorting them out for their respective owners and slipping inside to place them on the table. When he returned he insisted that they walk: wanting to know the route so that he could take himself. The two arrived right as Owen was sending out his previous client.

"Zane! Nice to see you. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, those suggestions have been incredibly helpful."

Owen nodded, a sympathetically serious look shadowing his face. "That's good, I'm glad they worked. Well, come on in! It wouldn't do to have you standing in the hallway all day." He lowered his voice before adding "would you like Wu to stay outside again?"

The ice ninja hesitated, then nodded. He wanted to tell Wu and the others everything, but he sensed that he needed more time; and, for some weird reason, he sensed the others lacked preparation as well. Wu hung back as the two walked into the room.

As soon as the two were alone Owen went straight to business. "How have your hallucinations been?"

"The number I experienced has decreased, they have almost been cut in half now." He had gone from about seven a day to only four over the past three days, but who was keeping track?

"That's good." He paused, contemplating his next question. "When we talked last you mentioned that you have had hallucinations before all this started?"

"Yes, although those ones were always more prophetic dreams than visualizing past events."

To Owen, it sounded like the hallucinations were merely the most prominent of a number of symptoms, definitely an underlying cause lay deeper than even the disorder. Which, considering all that the Ninja have been through, will be a very hard cause to find. "How do these make you feel?"

He hesitated; it was difficult to find, despite his numerous experiences with them. "Frightened." Well, now that he had said it, it seemed obvious.

"And these ones of the past have yet to enter your dreams?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything in particular that seems to be a bigger trigger than other things?"

That caught him off guard a little, but he was relieved to discover that the answer lay near the surface of his thoughts. "Voices."

Owen smiled, _that_ he could work with. "Alright, I want you to get together with your friends and just sit and watch a movie. You can do it in silence, once their faces don't trigger anything then we'll start working on voices. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes."

"Good. Our time is up, but if you feel you can then during these next four days it would be advisable to move back into the monastery during the day as well as the night." He smiled.

With a small bow of respect, Zane thanked him and walked out the door.

*Healing*

"Go away, Sensei. I'm busy."

"Looking at fight clubs?"

"I _said_ I'm _BUSY!_!"

"I have some business in Ninjago City for which I need you to accompany me."

"You must be _really _stupid to think that old trick will work twice. Now leave me alone before I set you on fire."

Wu ever so gently pressed the tip of his staff to the power button.

"HEY!"

"Now you are no longer busy, and can accompany me to Ninjago City."

Growling in frustration he instinctively tried to launch a fireball at Wu. Nothing happened. "Ugh! Not again!"

Wu stared, shocked, before coming up with something. "I'm sure Dr. Humes would be able to help with that."

"Fffine."

...

"Hi, Kai. It's nice to see you again. How are you doing?"

"I hate you all."

"He's been having a few extra issues." Wu glanced at Kai, whose hand had spontaneously combusted and he was now frantically trying to put it out before it set anything else on fire.

"I don't have any issues! This is completely intentional!" He stuck his hand in his mouth in an attempt to put it out. "Ow!"

"Has anything changed since I saw you last?" Her smile indicated that she already knew the answer.

"No. And I definitely haven't been spontaneously combusting whenever my mind drifts to villains we've already defeated."

"Of course." Noting Kai's improvement in attitude, she decided that in order to earn his trust - and, thus, do her job - it would probably be best to work one on one. "Would you prefer your mentor leave the room?"

"That's an option?" Now that he was distracted, his hand finally went out.

"Yes."

"In that case, bye! Bye Master Wu!" Wu flinched, but nodded and dutifully left the room.

"Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"No."

"Well, then, would you like to play some games?" She gestured toward a stack of board games in the corner.

Sliding off the couch to get a closer look, he eventually decided on Jenga. Once the game was set up he had begun to feel a little more stable, maybe he just needed something to focus on.

"So, this fire stuff that you're clearly not having any issues with, is it a recent issue or would it have been there before the last time I saw you?"

"No, it's new." He stiffened. "I mean, it would be if I even had any problems, which I don't." Casually as possible, he pulled out a block.

"I know, but metaphorically speaking what would be the emotional conditions necessary to burst into flame?"

"It would... Hey! You're just trying to get me to talk about myself!"

"If you say so." She smiled, strategically pulling out a key block in the structure of the tower that caused the entire tower to collapse. "Whoops, you win. Care for a rematch?"

Kai felt a fragment of a victorious smile creep across his face. If this 'therapy' was more of this playing board games maybe it would be okay for a little while.

* * *

**Finally! I totally did not type up over half of Kai's session directly into this website. ;)**

**And, once again, I must apologize for the long wait. I hope you're not all super mad at me!**


	6. Bonding, Part 1 (Part 2 will be late)

**A/N: So sorry this took so long, I will be doing the review replies at the end so as to keep my promise (in A Ronin Tale) to post _a_ chapter today.**

* * *

"Hullo, Jay! How arr ye doin' tee-day?" As usual, Charles's fake accents were all over the place, and incredibly inconsistent.

"Hi… Would, would it, would it be okay if… If Wu came with me? Today?"

Both men stared at him in befuddlement for a moment, before the younger broke out in a grin that betrayed the concern that lay within his eyes. "Of course! As long as it would make you comfortable."

Nodding, Jay relaxed slightly; worrying both his mentor and therapist further.

Once seated, the blue ninja continuously fidgeted, pointedly not meeting anyone's gaze. A concerned Wu gently grabbed the panicking boy and pulled him into a soft hug. It took almost thirty seconds, but the latter relaxed slightly.

"So, Jay, yoo ne'er answered me ques'ion: how arre yoou doin' 'oday?" That left the other two reeling as they wondered if that was supposed to be a really bad Scottish, a breakoff of the pirate dialect, or both.

"I…" His eyes darted around nervously. "I… I'm sorry! I failed my assignment! I didn't even try! Not even a little! Please don't get mad or throw me out a window or-"

"Jay." Charles's voice was like silk. "Look at me, do I look angry?"

"... No."

"What about Wu? Does he look mad at you?"

Pushing away slightly, he glanced at Wu. A slight giggle escaped his lips at the bewildered look on the normally unfazeable face. "No, he looks more confused."

"Exactly. Jay, you remember what I told you last time?"

He shook his head.

"I told you that if you failed I would simply ask you to try again, no matter how many tries it takes."

"Oh,"

"I'm sorry," Wu interjected "What assignment?"

Charles and Jay glanced at one another, before the elder motioned for it to be the latter's choice.

"Would- would he be allowed to help?"

"Yes-in-deedy."

"Then," Jay turned to the man next to him. "We need to have a meal as a family and have a conversation that's more-or-less with everyone."

Wu sat there silently for a moment. "Does it have to be everyone?"

"Not necessarily-"

"Why?" Jay now wore the expression Wu had donned a few minutes before.

Seeing Wu clearly did not know how to respond, Charles used the moment to throw in a theory. "It may be that some of your teammates may be having similar problems. With your close bonds and all that you six have been through together it's plausible that all of your individual trauma would kick in around the same time."

Jay blinked as Wu gave an affirmative nod.

"So, the others are constantly thinking up worse and worse future scenarios more and more and they sometimes aren't even possible - okay, they probably are possible, but-" Jay paused, trying to imagine Kai super panicky and jumpy. Or Zane. It was kinda freaky to think about.

"No, more often PTSD will cause people to be angrier and lash out against those around them; although flashbacks are also fairly common. The worst of those may even go into flat-out hallucinations."

"Hallucinations?"

"Seeing things that aren't ther-"

"Oh, right. I knew that."

The other two continued talking, but Wu was deeper in thought.

* * *

Curled up on his bed, Lloyd blatantly ignored the sound of the door opening. "Lloyd?" Wu knelt on the floor next to the bed, gently laying a hand on his arm. "How are you doing?"

Lloyd just flinched away from him, ducking under the covers.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You don't even have to come see Lydia today if you would rather stay here."

He remained unresponsive.

"I know you don't like her, but please believe me when I say that she just wants to help you, nephew." Wu sighed, picking up the tray he had brought in that morning. A small surge of hope went through him when he noticed half the slice of toast was gone, along with most of the crackers.

Taking it back to the kitchen, he loaded a new tray with what Zane had prepared for lunch that day - a bit of coleslaw along with finger sandwiches. Glancing back at the previous tray, he added some crackers; hoping that he could get him to eat a little more.

Returning to Lloyd's room, he set the tray on the floor. "Here's some lunch. I'll be back soon, okay Lloyd?" His hopes rose slightly, despite him knowing that his youngest student would remain silent.

Once he was certain Wu had left, Lloyd slid off the edge of his bed. Eyes bloodshot but dry. He quickly snatched the crackers and opened the nearest droor, adding them to the ones he had collected earlier. It made Wu happy to think he was eating, and maybe he might nibble on the toast sometime.

*Healing*

"How is he doing?"

"I got him to start eating again yesterday. He even ate some toast this morning. Although he still refuses to leave his room."

She nodded; although she would never admit it, this was by far her most difficult case - and that was taking into account the countless numbers of people she had talked out of suicide or villainous routes. "So he's slowly been opening up?"

"I can't be certain, but yes."

"What about water, has he been drinking enough?"

"I- I hadn't even thought about it. Most of them have bathrooms connected to their rooms so I figured he would get it from there."

"It's alright. If I may, are any of the others having problems?"

"Yes, why?"

"Looking back on their previous experiences, chances are that once they discover that the others have similar problems - that are just as bad as their own or worse - they'll bind together and support each other."

That made sense to Wu, they had done that before. "They are signed up for group therapy in addition to their regular sessions."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "That's… a good idea." Her gaze drifted to the ground as a thoughtful frown crossed her face. She muttered "we should have thought of that."

"Should I tell them all about-"

"I wouldn't, this is rather personal so it would probably be best to let them tell each other." She gently drummed her fingers on the back of her hand. "For now, our main focus is to try and get Lloyd out of his room and eating… more."

Wu nodded.

* * *

Cyrus had better things to do than see to her. He should have been inventing, making an assistant who wouldn't break down the way she did. Not try to coax his defective android out of a corner, to go see her therapist that she didn't deserve.

"PIXAL, please."

She shook her head. "I was more useful in the computer, wasn't I?" Her mutter had been intended to be nearly silent.

"PIXAL, what are you talking about? I would never want you stuck in a computer," whatever that meant "I love having you around, I would never want you to be forced to do something you don't want to."

"I am simply a bunch of parts."

"No, you're not. You're irreplaceable, a strong and confident young woman-"

"Machine." She corrected. "A machine who is somehow less than the sum of it's parts."

"PIXAL," He sighed, moving on to his last resort. "At this point it costs to cancel the appointment, do you want me to cancel it?"

Slowly, she shook her head.

"Alright, but then you have to come along."

Shakily pushing herself to her feet, she yanked her hair out of its ponytail to allow the synthetic fibers to hang in front of her face.

*Healing*

"PIXAL! Come on in, how are you today?"

She shied away slightly as her father led her into Zeno's office.

Zeno waited until the two were comfortable. "Bad day?"

Despite the tear on her cheek, her voice was perfectly flat. "I am a robot, I do not have 'bad days'."

With a quick glance of surprise shot at an exhausted Cyrus, Zeno held out a fresh tissue. "And I'm just a bunch of atoms stuck together in a humanoid form. We're all alive in some way and have our own thoughts and emotions, none more human than any of the others."

PIXAL blinked in shock, taking the tissue.

"I agree." Cyrus gave her a small smile of support, although his words did a better job.

"Were you able to get in contact with your boyfriend, Zane?" What little improvement to her mood that had occurred immediately reversed.

"No, I attempted to contact him a few times, but his mentor always declared that he was not ready." Her gaze had dropped back to the ground as she spoke. "I am sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," His tone was soft and understanding, almost empathetic. "To be honest, I should be the one apologizing."

For that, he received two blank stares.

"I should have taken into account that while you may feel ready, he may not. If he is having similar issues he may not want you to see him as he is now. For not considering this first, I'm sorry."

Cyrus raised an eyebrow and PIXAL visibly flinched in shock. "I do not believe that is an appropriate thing to apologize for, as there is no reasonable way you could have known that beforehand."

A sly smile tugged at the corner of his cheek. "So you're saying that it's not my fault and that I should not apologize for it?"

"... yes,"

"Like all things, there is such a thing as too much apologizing. Apologizing incessantly can - and will - decrease one's confidence in themselves." He gave a slight smile. "Whenever you want to think or say something negative or that may have a derogatory impact I want you to ask yourself if it's helpful at the given time. Can you try that?"

She gave a half smile in an attempt to imitate his. "Okay."


	7. Bonding, Part 2

"How are you doing?"

Still slightly hesitant, she grasped the outstretched hand to shake it. "Pretty good."

Jeniffer seemed happily surprised at that. "Come on back." She turned, motioning Nya into her office before heading in herself. "It's good to see you again, Nya."

"Good to see you too." She sat down in her usual chair - still refusing to use the couch.

"So… did you remember your assignment?"

Nya shifted in her seat, glancing down at her feet. Her hands were in her lap, clenched tightly. Anger bubbled in her chest, but instead of trying to get out it redirected itself back at her. "I couldn't think of anything." The air barely carried her mutter.

"And that upsets you?"

"I- well, no, but…"

"Nya, if you feel comfortable with it, I would like you to tell me a bit more about yourself and your friends."

Her tone took on a slightly wary edge. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything you're comfortable sharing with me."

Despite how friendly Jen was, something seemed… off, to Nya. Plus there was no way she would just go ranting on about herself in front of some 'professional' she had known for a week. "How about we do something else first… like Mini-Droid Chess?"

She pulled the board off of a nearby shelf and began setting it up. "Which color would you rather be?"

"White."

Frequently throughout their game Jen would ask some kind of question, which Nya would wave off with some vague or well-known answer. The moves went back and forth, slowly but surely the game seemed to tip in Nya's favour. She smiled as she moved her queen.

With a slight, sympathetic smile, Jen moved her rook into its final place. "Checkmate."

Nya rose from the couch slightly, staring stumped at the board. "How…?"

"I was part of a chess club back in school. I learned that the best way to defeat someone is to lower their guard so you can slip past their defences unnoticed. After you've accomplished that it's just a matter of getting everything lined up the way you want it."

She laughed slightly. "With that strategy you might even be able to defeat Zane."

"I'd hope not." She shook her head slightly. "If I can figure out that tactic someone else could as well. And then we could only hope they just use it for chess."

An uncomfortable silence encompassed the room. It ended when Jen glanced at her clock, slightly shocked at the time.

"It looks like our time for today is up." She stood, holding her hand out. "I would like you to try again at your previous assignment, if you feel up to it."

Accepting the hand, Nya nodded. She began to walk out.

"Wait." Nya gave Jen a questioning look. "I just wanted to say that… all of Ninjago trusts you to do your job, please trust me to do mine."

"I'll try."

* * *

The door gently creaked open. "Cole? You ready to see Dr.- I mean, Kirby?"

"I don't like him."

"Why not?"

"He wants me to… _talk_ about stuff. I'm not Jay."

Wu looked confused, but he shook his head slightly. "Does he know he's pushing too hard?"

"Well, no, but you say that like it's his job to have me talk about things that I don't want to talk about!"

Wu bit his lip to stop himself from saying that yes, it was his job. "Would you like to tell him?"

The earth ninja stared at him for a minute before flopping backwards on his bed. "Sure, why not?"

Wu did his best to ignore the exasperation in his student's voice.

*Healing*

"Cole! Good to see you! Come on back!" Kirby's smile flickered slightly as he detected the tension that surrounded the ninja.

As the boy trudged in, his mentor seemed uncertain so Kirby held up a hand to tell him that he had it all under control.

Gently, he closed his door and sat across from Cole. "Is there something you would like to tell me?"

"Did Wu tell you to ask that?" He demanded, anger flashing in his eyes to hide his fear.

"No, but the way you've been acting suggests that something is weighing on your mind."

"You barely even know me!" Kirby couldn't help but flinch as Cole's voice raised to a shout. "How are you supposed to know how I act?!"

"You're right, I don't know you very well." Cole nodded, 'you got that right' written all over his face. "But I'd like to. Why don't we do some games today?"

"I am not going to play 'would you rather'."

Slipping out of his chair, he opened up the one unlocked cabinet and began pulling out his games. "No, I wouldn't want to either. But you can choose from these."

Cole stared at them for a moment, looking between the board games Kirby had pulled out. Some of them he had never even heard of: Go Ninja, what- oh, a rip-off of go fish based on him and his friends. Eventually he settled upon one called Suspend; which appeared to be about balancing sticks on a pole.

Pushing the others to the side, Kirby took the game from Cole and began setting it up. "So, you have any hobbies?"

He motioned for Kirby to go first. "Why?"

Rolling the colorful die, he picked up a blue stick when the color appeared on the top. "I'm just curious what you do for fun."

"... I climb on occasion. We all train most of the time." Yellow, those looked like the hardest to place.

"I've gone climbing a few times." Purple, not as bad as yellow at least. "What's your favourite food?"

"Oh, that's easy; cake! Any kind!"

"And color?"

"Well, most people would guess black - because of my suit - but it's actually orange."

Before long the last stick had been placed, and the two waited to see if it would fall. The two let out twin sighs of relief when it held.

"You know, Cole? You're quite different from what the media says about you. You're a lot more of a fun and talkative person, it just takes you a minute to open up about that kind of stuff."

He smiled at the poor attempt at a compliment. "Thanks, Kirby; you're not as bad as what I'd first thought either."

* * *

Owen gave a small bow of respect. His grin seemed slightly smaller than usual. "Good to see you again. How are you doing, Zane?"

He returned the bow. "I am well, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking." His face fell into a frown. "But I have something to ask you before we get started."

Both Wu and Zane exchanged confused looks.

"You see, Wednesdays are rather busy for me, and I was wondering if we could move your appointments to… Mondays and Thursdays at twelve forty-five?"

Zane nodded.

"That's right after Lloyd's session starts." Wu muttered, mostly to himself.

The ice ninja had to admit, he was shocked that the kid was apparently in therapy too. "I can walk here, the way is already in my database."

Despite clearly wanting to protest, Wu nodded.

Relief flashed across Owen's face. "Thank you," he then appeared to realize that they were standing in the hall. "Uh, well, come on back."

The two walked back to his office, Wu hanging behind.

"Alright, today - as long as you're comfortable with it - I would like to start looking at your past a bit. I believe that your… symptoms, are a trauma-based response, so if we address the issues of stress then we should be able to minimize - if not completely eliminate - the surface problem."

Looking a little nervous, Zane complied. "Well, first my father created me and we did many of things together, the first possibly traumatic situation would be when he fell incredibly ill, lying in what both of us believed to be his deathbed. While I was standing next to him he turned off my memory switch, I only regained the memories of him when I found my original blueprints."

"And that distresses you?"

"Yes, I hate forgetting. I never want to forget again."

He offered a friendly shake of the head. "No one does. So seeing he was dying you stayed by his side?"

"Yes."

"And what else could you have done?"

"Excuse me, what?" Zane flinched, offended.

"Humor me. What other things could you have been doing while your father lay there?"

"I- I guess that I- I could have been cooking him some soup, or been in town trying to purchase medicine that would help him." His face fell. "None of those would have ended up with my memory turned off."

"While that's true," Zane glanced back up. "Would you change what you were doing if you could?"

Owen was slightly worried with how long the silence stretched before the response "No," was given. Giving a nod of relief, he pulled out a composition notebook. "Now for the new 'coping' mechanisms I promised. You may still continue the previous ones if you wish, but whenever you see something I want you to do what we just did, except write it down here."

"Writing is unnecessary, I can simply record it in my mind."

"While I understand, many of my clients have found that there's a large difference between thinking something and writing it down."

Shyly, Zane nodded and accepted the notebook.

* * *

Wu stood up, turning around to go find Kai and drag him to his appointment.

He nearly had a heart attack when he found the fire ninja leaning against the doorway.

"Is it time?" Kai's nonchalant act was mediocre at best.

Well, this was an unexpected turnaround. Wu smiled, this was a refreshing break from how he'd acted the past two times. "You've been looking forward to it?"

"No! I've just… been wanting to play Jenga again. And we don't have it."

Wu just smiled - recalling that they had three rip-offs of Jenga as well as the original in their game closet.

*Healing*

"Why are we _walking_ this time?" Kai groaned.

"Because getting out of the monastery and stretching your legs is good for you."

Kai did his best to look miserable, but secretly part of him enjoyed being outside and listening to those annoying birds. Or looking at those too-bright neon signs.

A man walking the same direction as them caught Kai's eye. He had smoothed-back black hair and, while Kai couldn't see his face, he thought he saw a hint of black mustache. Was that…?

The ends of his hair burst into flame, causing one of his hands to fly up there and try to put it out before they ruined his spikes. Everyone around the pair turned to look at them, so much for wearing civilian clothes as disguises. Kai relaxed slightly seeing that the man had a goatee and a nose that most definitely did not belong to the old villain.

That is, he relaxed until he remembered his hair was still on fire.

*Healing*

"Good to see you again Kai." Her face fell. "Why are- if I may, why are you wet?"

"Stupid Wu wanted to walk here and some stupid guy looked like Clouse." Kai muttered, still attempting to wring out his hair.

Wu stood next to him, looking unusually apologetic.

Sarei cleared her throat, a sly grin tugging the corners of her frown. "Does this mean you're not up for a round or two of Jenga?"

"No, we can do it while my hair dries." He glared at the flopped-over spikes; at least, the ones he could see.

Before long the two were seated on either side of a small, colorful tower. Kai gently pried a yellow block out, motioning for her to go next.

She pulled out a blue that had been sticking out rather far. "So you said you saw a guy who reminded you of 'Clouse'. I assume Coulse was an old villain you faced?"

"He worked under Chen." He flinched, his fingers sparking threateningly. "Can we _not_ talk?"

"How about theoretical questions? What would make someone like you scared, or hate someone else?"

Frowning slightly, he thought about it for a minute; almost forgetting his turn. "Well, touching my- I mean, their - friends and family. Especially if they were getting hurt and I- they - couldn't do anything to stop it."

"I see, this would upset them?"

"Yeah, especially if it was Lloyd or- I, I mean, their younger siblings."

"So they would rather be hurt than see others hurt?"

"Yeah, why?" His eyes narrowed slightly in the pause between words.

"Just curious." She refrained from telling him that knowing what would hurt him most would actually help her help him, although the fear of being set on fire certainly helped her keep her mouth shut.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about having this separate, I had to get off at midnight and (thanks to school) could not get back on to finish typing up Kai's until after noon. Also, I have just barely realized that I didn't do them for the last chapter either so I will be doing those review replies here.**

**Review Replies:**

**ItsYoGreenGirl: Thank you! I honestly cannot wait until later on in the story; both for writing and for you guy's reactions. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

**Bookkeeper2004: Yeah, I was having some trouble with his name until I looked at their voice actors and realized that I could just be lazy. :p**

**MightyShipper: Thank- *stares at review* One- one hundred percent? That's... a lot of percent, wow. I don't know if I can accept that, but thank you...? Yeah. Thank you! :)**

**Evelyn Rogue: Thanks, I guess? I've been writing stories for awhile and my friend introduced me to fanfictions so... technically it's not my first _story_, but - to be fair - I never have posted any of my work before so... I dunno. Anyway, thanks!**

**Northern Goshawk: More or less, yeah. For those who kinda already had at least a little bit of a disorder or other kind of problem *cough cough Jay and his anxiety cough Kai with some anger issues cough cough* Sorry, something was caught in my throat. Anyway I basically took that problem and amplified it with the power of PTSD, so yeah. And of course the nindroids are malfunctioning slightly because they're not built to have these kind of problems...**

**ama: Thanks! Here you go! (Also, I agree, that's mostly why I started writing this fic.)**


	8. Group Time! (SINGLE CHAPTER)

**A/N: I am so, _so _sorry about how long this chapter took! ... and it's kinda short. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how to write a whole bunch of people in a room for the sole purpose of talking about their problems, but none of them actually want to talk about them in front of the others. Luckily they should all be a _little_ more open for the next group session. **

**Review Replies:**

**ItsYoGreenGirl: Thank you! Here's the first (and hopefully most awkward - I don't think the poor ninja would survive another like this one) group session! I can almost guarantee that the others will be less awkward.**

**ama: There's... There's a good way...? Well, um, thanks? As long as it's the good way, I think I'm in the clear.**

**Fire-of-the-Ocean: Yeah, situations are actually more traumatic the less control a person has over them, and some of the things that happen *chuckles nervously* needless to say those would cause a _lot_ of problems for the average civilian.**

**CheezPretzel: Thanks! I'm glad you like the way I'm writing Kai. As for PIXAL, well, I thought about that but... how do you give a nindroid medicine? would it even work?**

**GreenNinja429: Much gratitude! I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'being true to the rating', but I'll try my best! If necessary I'll change it later. As for Lloyd, he'll get help sooner or later, he's my favorite too so I won't leave him like this.**

**Elbert thecookie: Thank you! as you can see, I am writing more, I'm just really bad at writing in every possible way so... I don't update very often. Sorry.**

* * *

Trying his best not to startle him, Wu approached the Ninja of Ice. "Zane."

"Yes, Master Wu?" The response seemed almost automatic, and the ninja failed to even glance up from his notebook.

He cleared his throat, "You… have therapy today. As a group. I understand if you are not… prepared for this, so… If you wish to remain behind you may stay here with Lloyd."

Zane raised an eyebrow, yet still left his back to his mentor. "How many of the others besides me and Lloyd got a choice?"

Despite his efforts, he failed to form words through the tendrils of guilt that surrounded him. Technically Zane was the _only_ one who had gotten any kind of choice.

"I see, then I will come as well."

*Healing*

PIXAL and Cyrus nearly jumped out of their seats when the ninja walked into the room, staring - almost openly - at Zane. Although they could almost understand what Wu had meant when he flinched upon seeing them, biting his lip. Whatever it was, he shrugged it off coolly so that the only remaining trace of something being off was the way he clutched his composition notebook.

"PIXAL!" Tightly wrapping his arms around her, he let out a tranquil sigh. "It's been too long."

Nodding slightly, she leaned into the embrace. The two could feel Jay's eyes lingering on them, before they drifted over to Nya. He was staring at the ground by the time the two let go.

"What are you doing here? Wu told me you were... not ready for this kind of thing."

"He did?" Zane narrowed his eyes, before turning slightly to glare at his mentor. After a moment he turned back to her. "I must admit, he wasn't entirely wrong, but it would be nice if he _asked_ before saying those kinds of things. I will _always_ make time for you, no matter what the situation is."

A woman - most likely in her mid 40's - slipped into the room and promptly stopped, taking a moment to recollect herself before addressing the room. "You must be my new 4 O' clock. I'm Halley Daleton," -she gave a bow of respect- "and I will be conducting your session here today. Please, take a seat."

PIXAL dragged Zane with her as she returned to her seat at her father's side. Cole and Nya both choose seemingly random seats, clearly still on edge about this situation. Jay spent two minutes scouring every angle and patting down his seat repeatedly before sitting down, almost half the room was staring at him by the time he finished his inspection. Kai - despite the fact that there were more than enough chairs for everyone - took a seat on the floor; Wu took a similar route and stood in the doorway.

"Thank you." She eyed Wu as she took her own seat. "I understand that you are all here to get support through these times. Please try to support everyone else as well, this is to be an environment of encouragement." Glancing around the room, she tapped her foot slightly. "Would anyone like to start with their name and something they've been going through that they would be open to sharing?"

Within seconds the silence weighed across everyone's shoulders, yet still not one of them spoke up (aside from Halley) until the fourth "_Anyone?_"

PIXAL stood, taking a deep breath before she began. "If no one else is going to break the tension, then I will. I…" Her heart raced, cutting off her words. In her attempts to recollect herself she felt a familiarly cold hand grasp hers, and she squeezed it in gratitude. "I'm PIXAL, as you know, and I… I've had some…" -she found it intolerably difficult to pry the words from her throat. "I've had a few issues… controlling my emotions at times… and… and the occasional nightmare. Mostly about previous battles, and… other things." Occasional? _Other things?_ She sunk back into her seat, hiding her face in her hands as Zane tried his best to comfort her.

"Thank you, PIXAL. That was very courageous of you. Would anyone else like to say anything?"

There was another minute of increasingly awkward silence.

"I've had enough of this!" Kai groaned, rising to his feet. "I don't have any problems, and I _don't_ have time for this! I'm leaving!" As swiftly as Kai had gotten to his feet, he was swept off his feet and deposited gently in an empty seat. Within seconds Wu had returned to his post at the door.

Halley found herself glancing at the clock, barely managing to hide her despair at the fifty-one minutes remaining. She felt herself recalling how she had gone into group work in hopes of _avoiding_ dealing with the nightmare that was their heroes' lives, yet here she was. "Alright, if no one else is willing to speak up, how about we step back into an introduction of everyone, plain and simple?"

"Like you don't already know who we all are." His voice was laced with anger as he slid back down to the floor.

This was going to be a _long_ hour, for the lot of them.

* * *

**A/N: Again, terribly sorry. I'm trying my best to get these out as fast as possible (and to make them longer), my biggest issue is probably beating my self up for not posting as often as I want to, and then I'm doing that instead of writing *slightly off, nervous laughter*. At least my stories are staggered now...? Anyway, bye! Hopefully see you sooner rather than later!**


	9. Progression? Part 1

**A/N: I am SO SORRY this is so late! (although at this point, ya'll probably don't believe me.) If any of you all have time you guys could check out xxXTryMeXxx's work, she's new but really good, or NinjagoGeek4EVER's work, she's actually the one who introduced me to this website so... yeah. Their stuff is good!**

**Once again, terribly sorry. I'm trying, I really am. CONTENT WARNING: Character makes BAD** **DECISIONtm (gets stopped though) and if you don't want to read that, just skip it.**

**Review Replies:**

**xxXTryMeXxx: Okay! Here you go! (Thanks for trying to help motivate me... even though it didn't work too well)**

**Elbert the cookie: Thanks! Although I am still frustrated because I _know_ I should be able to post more... but I don't.**

**A Huge Fangirl: I'm glad you like it! I'm mostly just writing it because these poor babies really need this.**

**SJTiger: Thank you! They are, although juggling them is... not fun. I think I would prefer it if I could stick with a ninja and write a few of theirs... *looks at papers* wait, can I? *Shrugs* Maybe. On another note, sometimes I kinda wish life _didn't_ happen... but it does. Oh well. Thank you for your service!**

**ItsYoGreenGirl: Thanks! I'm trying to make things better for them but _some_ of them are making things difficult.**

**BOOM Fanfic-a-latta: Glad you're enjoying it... but being dead doesn't sound too good for your health. Just saying.**

**Steampunk Wilson: It's fine you're laughing, honestly quite a bit of his behavior in the previous chapter was for more humorous purposes as well as character/trauma-related things. (Also you're SUPER right on the awkward bit!)**

**CaptainSteve1: They kinda all are a bit messed up, but I agree Zane is one of the ones who's got it BAD. As for them being okay, well, that's what this entire fic is about, isn't it? =)**

**(By the way, since there are so many, I think I'm gonna start doing review replies through PM's, just so you all know.)**

* * *

"I'm tired of this."

"What makes you say that?" Wu glanced at the ninja walking just a few paces behind him.

Jay jolted out of his thoughts, not realizing he had spoken aloud. "Nothing." The response was automatic and a little too fast.

"Are you certain?"

He _tried_ to hold his tongue, but the blue ninja had never been good at that. "It's- it's just- this isn't working. Charles isn't helping, that lady we saw three days ago was supposed to help but I think she only made things worse - she just kept prying and none of us were saying anything! We just sat there, like… like strangers! And even at the monastery everyone's avoiding me and-" His thoughts were racing like the participants of Ninjaball Run. "I- I'm sorry. I'm ranting and not making any sense and- and-"

"It's alright." The concern flooding his tone implied he wanted to say more, but they had already arrived at their target destination. "Will you at least go in and see him today?"

"... fine."

Despite this being his fourth time in the building, butterflies still crawled under his skin as he walked inside. Instinctively, he curled in on himself.

"G'dee, Maght. Ai op oui a'e duimg wheel." Geeze, would it kill Charles to at least _try_ to be comprehensible? Someone needed to tell that man that accents are meant to be done _one at a time_, not all at once.

His internal Ninjaball Run stirred back up again as Wu began to lead him into Charles's office. In the lead was the question of _what if Charles gets mad?_, which led its own biker gang in the race. Granted, he had never seen Charles angry before, but that just left way too much room for speculation. Charles had a very cheerful attitude, his bad side had to be some kind of horrendous nightmare that even psychopaths like Ultra Violet would fear.

A new competitor joined, a solution: He would just avoid mentioning it. Kinda hard to get angry about something you don't know, right?

"Dr. Bradley, Jay has a concern for you." Of course Wu was going to mention it. Good ol' Master Wu, master of getting his students into impossible situations and then leaving them there to figure things out themselves.

"No! No I don't!" Panic surged through his voice, causing it to crack even higher than Nya's voice could. "Everything's fine! Just peachy!"

"Are you sure?" Miraculously, the only accent in his voice was one of concern.

"Yep!"

"Okay." Charles shrugged, a strangely nonchalante gesture. "But if you ever have anything you want to say feel free, after all a big part of my job is being able to listen well." After an ever-so-slightly awkward pause, the professional graciously changed the subject. "How about a game?"

Wu stared for a moment as Jay perked. "Sure! Uh…" he glanced at the elder next to him, "Maybe… Jenga?"

While at first Wu had his doubts about the whole 'let's just play some board games!' approach, he had to admit it was surprisingly effective. Halfway through the first round Jay confessed his concerns in more detail than he had to Wu, Adding on things he had neglected to mention entirely just a dozen minutes before. The three had discussed things - explaining that things tend to take time and reassuring Jay that while the others indeed had their own problems it was _his_ job to focus on _his_ problems. Somehow, the semi-strategic removal of blocks from the tower not only allowed the conversation to flow more smoothly, but also aided in keeping the overall mood light and comfortable.

Wu needed more board games.

* * *

***Skip if sensitive to this kind of bad decision***

Lloyd peeked out of his room. This would have been so much easier had Wu not taken his Dao away two weeks before.

No one was in the hall, all the better for sneaking around. They had numerous weapon cabinets in the monastery, the nearest only a few doors down. Simple.

His steps were silent, his ears straining to catch anything - anyone - that was coming. It was just after noon and Master Wu had already brought him a tray of the unwanted food, so no one should have been headed through that part of the monastery unless they were headed outside. Still, it was best to be cautious.

Just as Lloyd's hand rested upon the doorknob, Wu materialized beside him. "Lloyd! You're out of your room! How are you doing?" He pulled Lloyd into a hug, wrapping him a little too tightly in his arms.

"I'm good." The lie felt weird to speak, and he couldn't help but notice that Wu was now between him and the door.

"Are you up to seeing Lydia again?" Wu pulled back, keeping one arm around Lloyd's shoulder. Still between Lloyd and his objective.

"I-" The lady who somehow managed to sound almost exactly like Harumi had when _she_ had first met Lloyd. A cold sweat dripped down his back. "Y'know, I think I'll just… stay here." He tried to slip out from under Wu's arm, but his uncle was a little too quick and moved his arm to the boy's waist.

"I think it would be good for you, nephew."

"I'm good, honest." Wow, when had he gotten so good at lying? He could almost convince himself with that one.

"Please?" Apparently Wu was a human lie detector.

After a minute, he slowly nodded, knowing Wu was not going to let this go until he agreed. He gave one last, hesitant glance toward the closet door.

***Okay, pretty clear* ** *Healing*

"Lloyd! So good to see you!" He could feel his nephew tense up beside him at the councilor's cheery tone. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

She clearly saw the same thing as Wu in Lloyd's hesitation. "Do I get the both of you today?"

The question was directed at Wu, causing Lloyd to relax slightly. "You do."

"Splendid! This way."

Wu could tell Lloyd was shaking, but he refused to leave him at the monastery. Not after earlier. Plus, Lloyd clearly needed a lot of help, and hiding in his room was certainly _not_ helping.

The rest of the session was rather disappointing. Lloyd never said much beyond "I'm fine" and "I'm good," but he at least relaxed a bit when Lydia pulled out some blocks she had for her younger clients. Once he had the toys he all but ignored the other two, but at least he was occupied and safe for the moment.

* * *

"So," Now that they were both seated, Owen was hopping straight to business. "How have you been? Has writing things out helped at all?"

"I've- it's been ups and downs. Writing… actually did help, a little. It at least helped me set things aside to deal with later."

A smile crept upon his face. "May I see it?" he gestured to the notebook on Zane's lap, and Zane reluctantly handed it over. A worried frown crossed his face as he flipped through the entries. "These are all… different? Within the past week?"

Zane nodded, wincing slightly at Owen's expression.

"Would it be possible to get you on medication?" Owen had refrained from asking before, mostly because of how early it was as well as the fact that he simply was uncertain whether it was even possible.

"Probably not." Zane admitted. "Due to not being human my body tends to have different reactions to things, most drugs and similar things have little to no effect."

A sigh escaped his lips. "I was afraid of that." There went his chances of making things a little easier for the both of them.

Glancing back down at the notebook, he noticed a few things in particular that seemed to repeat. "This time you were imprisoned, how were you restrained?"

Zane glanced at the page he was on, just to make sure he was thinking of the _right_ time he got locked up. "I was locked in one of- one of Chen's cells." It was harder to talk about than he would have liked. "I was chained to the wall. They made the chains thicker after I cut through them the first time." A shudder crept through him, recalling PIXAL torn apart and lying in pieces scattered across the room. If he'd had time he could have put her back together… but he didn't. He _had_ time after Chen's defeat, he could have built her a new body, but instead she had to wait to build her own.

"What was the cell made of? The chains?"

"Stone. And metal."

"Alright, and what could you have done differently when locked up?"

He was silent for a moment. "Not much," he admitted. "If I had tried anything I probably would have gotten locked up even tighter." Although the knowledge failed to help, he still felt bad that his friends had to rescue him. He would do the same for them, but they shouldn't have to do it for him too.

"And what did you do when you _did_ get out?"

Not asking _how_ he got out, Zane noticed. "Cole and I worked to free the rest of the prisoners there."

Owen smiled. "That," he stated emphatically, "sounds like a very noble course of action."

* * *

PIXAL's eyes stared blankly out the window. Mostly avoiding the urge to cry. It had been three days ago, but she still felt shame and embarrassment flooding at the memory of her incapability to form the words she had tried so hard for. Cyrus had tried to tell her a thousand times that it was fine - natural, even, to get tongue tied - but it was difficult to believe.

At least nindroids did just fine without sleep… although avoiding any form of rest was probably overkill.

"PIXAL!" Zeno exclaimed. "Doing well, I hope?"

She bit her lip, giving a hesitant, but firm, nod that failed to be entirely convincing.

Zeno's brow furrowed. "Do you want to talk about it?" When she shook her head, his frown deepened. "Well," he paused, thinking, "have you ever played Pixy Cubes?"

Once again, she shook her head.

"I think you'd like it. It's not hard, but it can be calming and surprisingly enjoyable for something so simple."

Cyrus's Borg Watch gave a soft beep, causing all three of them to jump. "Duty calls." He shrugged, starting to back out of the building.

It definitely was _not_ one of his normal patrol times, which meant… "I should deal with it, whatever it is." Cyrus could get himself hurt, PIXAL knew the escaped felons from Kryptarium were especially vicious.

"It's a single robber, PIXAL. I've dealt with the few who have dared to breach Borg Tower, and I'll have your mech. You focus on stuff here, okay? I'll call you when they're behind bars."

Reluctantly, she let him go. Still terrified for the sake of her father, she followed Zeno into his office.

*Healing*

The robber had been easy as pie: he had remained inside the building in hopes that having hostages would protect him from the law enforcement, and had surrendered the moment the 'samurai' showed up. Cyrus, as promised, called his daughter as the police led the lowlife away. Just as he had expected, she audibly relaxed the moment he told her he was okay.

Upon his return, he decided to leave PIXAL and Zeno alone. He had peeked inside and the two were doing just fine - PIXAL was fidgeting with small, colorful cubes and talking almost openly with the professional.

So, instead of joining them, he waited in the room set aside for… well, waiting. He had some new ideas he had been _dying_ to start sketching out, but all the business really wanted was upgrades on old things.

When his daughter came out, she had a large, almost cheesy grin on her face. "You caught your first robber!" She exclaimed before he had a chance to say anything. "Congratulations!"

He chuckled, although it technically wasn't his first. "I should be congratulating you, PIXAL, you've built up quite the reputation. He surrendered the moment I showed up."

She smiled and hugged him. "Thanks, Dad."


	10. Progression? Part 2

For some strange reason, Wu had been lurking in the shadows _all day_ yesterday. He was usually hanging around, but this seemed almost paranoid. He tried to hide, but since he was the only other in the room Nya knew he was there almost all the time.

After all his watching from a distance, Nya nearly jumped out of her skin when he actually approached her. "Are you up for another session with… Jenifer?"

_Well,_ she wondered, _why not?_ "Sure, I guess."

*Healing*

Another session, and Nya foolishly chose another game of chess.

Nya was determined to defeat Jen. Today was the day.

So, of course, she spent five minutes contemplating her first move. Eventually, her knight came out from behind the line of pawns.

"How was your week?"

"It was alright. The worst part had to be when Master Wu took almost all of us to some 'group therapy' thing. It was really awkward and we all kinda hated it."

"Well, I'm sorry you didn't like that session, but it sounds like a very good move on your teacher's part. If you're all struggling it would help all of you to lean on one another."

That sounded… reasonable. "I wish I'd said something. PIXAL did, but she was the only one. What would I have even said?" That last part was most definitely _not_ planned, but slipped out anyway.

"Whatever you wanted. Next time, if you want to say something, maybe start with a personal story - something that feels significant - and elaborate with your feelings about it."

Subconsciously, Nya scrunched her face, leaning backwards slightly. "I don't think that would work." It wasn't her exact reason, but the words for how she really felt about it lay just out of reach.

Jen shrugged, moving a rook into a seemingly innocent position. "At least trying would probably help, and you could always rehearse it with me - or someone else - ahead of time." She paused, scanning the chessboard. "Check."

Nya stared: the Rook's place was clear, but moving it out left a path for the black queen to go straight for her king. Cautiously, she ducked her king behind a pawn. "What kind of story would I even tell?"

"Anything pressing on your mind. Especially stuff from your past, if it's bothering you it's best to try and get it out somehow."

That sounded like a _really_ bad idea for some reason. "My friends already know all my stories, they were _there_."

"That doesn't mean they know your perspective." Once again, her usual smile. "Checkmate."

Sure enough, any move Nya could make would result in her king getting captured, despite the fact the only pieces she had lost were 3 pawns and a bishop. "Let's go back to Uno." She grumbled, slumping back into the couch.

"You're giving up?" She seemed genuinely surprised at this. "You've been improving so much."

"I'm not quitting, I'm just taking a break!" The words seemed familiar as they flooded from her mouth.

Pulling out the cards, Jen neatly swept away the chess board. "Good, know your limits. But don't forget to push them."

* * *

"There you are!" Wu's voice sounded surprised, but there was something else… relief?

"Are you dragging us all to another group session?" Disgust filled his usually flat voice, and he sent another blow towards the training dummy.

"No." His wince flowed into his voice, even with his back turned Cole knew Master Wu had cringed. "Just to see… Kirby."

He sighed. "Fine, but we are _not_ walking today."

*Healing*

"Hey Kirby."

"Cole… another bad day?" His eyes narrowed, this was the second time in a row.

"More like week. Now can I get away from _this_ guy?" Cole gestured a thumb in Wu's direction.

"Of course." Kirby sent Wu a questioning glance.

Before Cole even sat down he reached onto the shelf and pulled out Suspend. Apparently _really_ bad week, if he was going straight for the games.

"What happened?" Being sane, Kirby had waited until after the game had started to ask the question.

"Wu took us to some sort of therapy, but we were all together. It was awkward, Kai was a jerk, and I hated it."

He nodded sympathetically, placing an orange stick onto their little tower. "How did the others feel about it?"

Cole shifted, stuttering for words. "Well- I- I don't know. I wasn't- not paying much attention… to them." He glanced down in shame.

"Do you care about their feelings?"

"Of course I do!" His hands had balled into fists. "What kind of brother would I be if I didn't?! I-"

Kirby cut him off with a hand. "While it's good to be aware of one's own feelings - and I'm not saying you should forfeit your own emotions - sometimes it's best to step away and take care of others before you start wallowing in self-pity. Focusing on others - friends, family members, or even random strangers who could use some help - can do wonders for the individual."

"O-okay." While he had relaxed a bit, his fists were still clenched. "That makes sense."

He chuckled. "I believe it's your turn." Cole jumped, but fully relaxed a moment later as he reached for the colorful die.

Cole certainly was _not_ ready to start talking about his past yet…

But everything has its time.

* * *

"It's good to see you dry." Sarai joked as Kai slouched into her office.

"That was the _worst_ hour of my life." Kai muttered, shooting a fresh glare in his mentor's direction.

"When you were wet?" She _highly_ doubted that.

"No, Master Wu signed us up for _group therapy_. It was the _worst_."

Sarai decided _not_ to mention that sparks were flying from his clenched fists. "'Us', as in, your entire group?" She beckoned him into the office, pulling out Jenga in hopes of quenching Kai's aggression.

"Yeah, and all we did was stare at each other while this crazy lady kept telling us to talk about our feelings and stuff."

"Did anyone say anything?"

Kai hesitated until the tower was fully constructed, carefully removing a block before answering. "Only PIXAL, and she only spoke up once." She gave him an encouraging nod, and he continued. "And why were we even there?! _I_ don't have any problems! And even if I did, I wouldn't want my friends to know about them, they look up to me!"

"They do," _not,_ she mentally added, "Although that may have been why you were there."

His hand jerked back, nearly toppling the entire tower as the block was yanked out. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that you might not have been there to help with _your_ problems, but because your _friends_ have problems and need your help."

Kai blinked in surprise, clearly having not considered that.

"In fact - and you might not like this too much, Kai - but it might even be better for them if you _did_ have problems because they would know that it's okay to _not_ be okay. Knowing you had problems too and were seeking help would help them be more comfortable doing the same."

She was right, he _didn't_ like that, but if she was right about that she might be right about some of those other points too. Maybe not _all_ the others looked up to him _that_ much, but Lloyd sure did. Yet…

"But Lloyd wasn't even there!" Lloyd didn't have problems, or else Wu would have brought him. "And the others don't… Y'know… They don't quite look up to me _that_ much."

Her eyebrows shot up, Lloyd _hadn't_ been there? With everything the kid had been through and his through-the-roof trauma levels that every therapist dreaded having to deal with? Strange. "Just because he wasn't there doesn't mean he doesn't have problems. After all, if he was fine he would probably be helping your mentor with those that _have_ problems." Plus there was no way _Lloyd Garmadon_ was fine, not with what the kid had been through.

"Well, _if_ he's struggling I could _pretend_ to have my emotions out of control and feel like I'm constantly on edge for no reason… just to make him feel better."

She smiled. "Sounds great."

*healing*

Lloyd's door creaked open, and the green bean stiffened; Wu always knocked, his friends never came in anymore… in fact, he hadn't seen any of them in at least a week, for all he knew they had all moved out.

"Lloyd?" Kai couldn't see him, and Lloyd watched as the familiar, frantic eyes flicked across the room.

"Are you in here?" Panic laced the usually steady voice, his hands sparking. "Lloyd? Master Wu said you would be here, Lloyd?" Lloyd watched as Kai began searching his room, not thinking to look under the bed.

"I'm here." The words slipped out, he couldn't stand seeing Kai like this.

Kai finally spotted him, relief replacing the panic that had taken hold. "There you are. What are you doing down there?" There was a slight edge of anger mixed with the relief, and Lloyd instinctively shrunk back.

"Sorry." Kai sat, crossing his legs, still staring at Lloyd. "I- well, I haven't quite been feeling myself lately. It's been weird, like some… some_thing_ has… no." His gaze shifted to the floorboards. "I'm not making any sense, but it's kinda like the past has come back to bite me a little more literally than I'd like."

Kai's fists were clenched tightly, but his voice remained calm.

Lloyd gave him a sad smile, recalling the events just two days earlier.

"Me too."


End file.
